After the first seemingly uneventful rounds at the Mandalay Bay, Pacman finally scored his first blow to Barrera in the 3rd round amidst the rowdy Filipino crowd chanting his name. It wasn’t as exciting as his other fights, but I can see my Dad moving up and about his seat as he watched the Pambansang Kamao dance inside the ring with his signature fast jabs and hard-hitting hooks. After 11 rounds into the fight, it was already obvious who the winner will be: the Mexicans have lost their steam shouting Barrera’s name, the commentators were already giving out praises for Pacman’s energy and tenacity and the Pinoys were already jumping, shouting and skipping for Pacman to KO his opponent. Everyone knew yet no one blinked for even a second. Even Barrera’s foul punch didn’t seem to set Pacman off: he was restrained and everyone could see just how composed he was. In the end, Pacman won by unanimous decision: everyone expected that. But honestly, the biggest surprise for me was seeing the country’s VP, Noli de Castro, give Manny that extra ‘political congratulatory pat on the back’ after the official announcement. I was irked. Is this a sign that we will see more of Pacman in future Philippine elections?
I understand that Manny is now a symbol of national pride, no question about that, but is it that necessary for the Vice President of the Philippines to personally watch his fight and make a t.v. appearance? Does the VP have nothing important to do than watch Pacman’s fight? Judging by what I saw, I guess the answer is yes. I think the FG personally watched one of Pacman’s recent fights too. I could understand the FG, seeing as he is a ‘private person’ as oppose to de Castro who is a public official. But the last time the FG went to watch Pacman’s fight, the result was having him run under the administration flag. Is the administration courting Pacman again?
As much as I hate to taint this glorious and exciting occasion, the obvious cannot escape my eyes. I wonder if I am making too much out of VP de Castro’s gesture, but whenever you sense desperation in the PGMA camp, you will always find them holding on to popular figures to save their skins. In the last elections, the GO had a star-studded ensemble whereas the TU had only left-overs. The remedy her side thought? Put Cesar Montano in. But Montano’s popularity didn’t do much to help the group sorties. But still, you have to admit that Montano and fellow actor, Goma, were reasonably higher than most candidates e.g. The Kapatiran boys and some old trapos. Now the administration side is losing face again for the scandals and controversies they face over corruption, cheating and anomalous disappearances. Do they expect the people to soften their hearts on them if they have the People’s Champ on their side?
I don’t like to see Manny being used for whatever political sham. He is a good athlete and it is unlikely to mix him into state affairs. Although Pacman has had his share of showbiz exposure e.g. his supposed affair with Ara Mina and varied commercials and movies, politicians shouldn’t give him more reasons to venture out into politics. The thing is, politics has already lured a piece of Pacman out last elections and I am afraid that this dangerous liaison might lead to our Champ’s downfall. Personally, I believe he should concentrate on his boxing career now. In the future, if he really, really wants to run for office, then he should give up boxing because he could never do well in both fields at the same time. Not that I am encouraging him to run or anything, but I am merely saying that for now, he should concentrate on doing what he is best at: BOXING. Pacman is an exceptional boxer and I think being the 2006 Boxer of the Year says it all but he shouldn’t stop there just yet. He’s only 28 years old and I believe he has the capacity to become an even bigger, remarkable boxer.
VP de Castro’s appearance beside Pacman in the ring gave me this chilling insight and frankly, I don’t want this thought to ever happen. I enjoyed the match and I think it’s safe to say that perhaps the country’s crime rate for today may be 0% again. Maybe I’m just paranoid or maybe not. We’ll see.
5 Comments
October 7, 2007 at 10:22 am
[...] Read the rest of the story here. [...]
October 7, 2007 at 7:50 pm
i didn’t get to see the fight. tv pay per view was charging $49.95 so i said to myself the heck with it. i heard it was a good. but there was no mention of it in the 11 o’clock news and not even a word in the sunday paper. it was like a complete blackout from the mainstream media.
October 15, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Strangely enough, I was in the Las Vegas area the weekend of the fight…except it was for family business and not to check out our national pugilist. I hope PacMan has learned from smarting over the last election’s beatdown that he can’t do a smooth career change from being in the ring to being in the public sector…OK, who am I kidding?
October 21, 2007 at 4:49 am
volume addict:
no one. haha.
December 7, 2008 at 5:24 am
Pacman Wins and only for 8 rounds.. how? delahoya decided to stop or let says he cant beat pacman, therefore he surrender and dont have to pursue the round 9.. and check on the round card, all the rounds from 1 to 8 are in favor to pacman. no one can beat pacman.. pacman as best pounder and height really doesnt matter, pacman proved that he has the power, speed, and his very smart on his fighting strategy… God bless pacman and God bless Filipino! God bless Philippines!